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Manchester City have been eliminated from the Champions League in the Round of 16 at the hands of high-flying French side AS Monaco. After a wonderful home leg win, City had a two-goal cushion but also faced the risk that Monaco's away goals would trump them, which they ultimately did. Despite a brave second half, City were simply not as ruthless as supporters have come to expect and paid a heavy price.
Conceding two goals early is never a good thing, but City must have felt doubly disappointed at halftime after their amazing home win was basically undone in less than 30 minutes. There was still hope as City had to only come out and win the second half, and despite better play from nearly everyone on the pitch it simply wasn’t meant to be.
Monaco deserve a ton of credit for advancing to the quarter-finals, but Pep Guardiola will need to take a hard look at some of his players after this recent failure. Below are the ratings for each player who got in the game for City.
Willy Caballero: 5.5
The Argentine keeper was not helped out by his defense against Monaco (hold that thought), but Willy could have still done better organizing his defense.
Bacary Sagna: 4.5
Sagna was consistently dragged out of position, and sometimes the French full-back was simply in the wrong place defensively. Things got a bit better in the second half, but not enough to redeem the veteran.
John Stones: 5.5
The youngster probably had a better night than most on the back line, but this was still a performance to forget for every defender, including Stones.
Aleksandar Kolarov: 5.0
Kolarov starts games at center-back because he lacks pace and is good in the air. His deficiencies were on full display when trying to contain Monaco’s quick forwards, but Kolarov's aerial prowess was nowhere to be seen when City really needed a strong head at the back.
Gaël Clichy: 5.0
The second half was much better for City’s other French defender, but the first half was too poor to mark Clichy any higher. Bernardo Silva might be haunting Clichy’s dreams for a couple of weeks.
Fernandinho: 4.5
A night very much to forget for Fernandinho. In the first half the Brazilian was totally overwhelmed by Monaco’s game, and the Brazilian was mostly exposed throughout the game. The decision to leave out Yaya Touré for the entire match might have some supporters wondering if something is wrong with the big man.
Kevin De Bruyne: 4.0
Playing as a deep number eight seemed to suit the Belgian in the second half, but he remained mostly quiet. Unfortunately almost nothing came off for De Bruyne in what was a shockingly bad evening by his standards.
David Silva: 5.5
Silva was always one pass away from a great moment. His play picked up in the second half when City really needed it, but it was simply a night where City couldn’t finish their chances and were always left wanting more.
Leroy Sané: 6.0
The German winger scored and was a threat for most of the second half, but playing too deep in the first 45 minutes contributed to a poor display in quite some time from Leroy.
Raheem Sterling: 5.5
Sterling was part of some of City’s best and their worst Wednesday evening. He had some good take-ons and had an important part in City's goal. But Sterling also displayed some poor decision making in the final third, which led to goal-scoring opportunities vanishing.
Sergio Agüero: 5.0
The fire was there all night from El Kun, but it simply wasn’t the Argentine's night and nothing he really tried came off. Against a Monaco defense which has been poor all season, Agüero will feel he should have gotten at least one goal.
Kelechi Iheanacho: N/A
I don’t think Iheanacho even had a touch in his limited time on the pitch.